ABSTRACT
Our children are being threatened – if we don’t take action now we’ll end up with a generation of nicotine addicts. Cigarette consumption in the United States has been declining for decades and in 2005 sales hit a 55-year low. Programs to eliminate tobacco are working – tobacco use is becoming a socially unacceptable practice; aggressive anti-tobacco programs, enacting comprehensive smoke-free laws, and increased cost of cigarettes have contributed to the decline in cigarette smoking. Cigarette makers are looking for alternative tobacco products to bolster their growth and halt this steady decline. The tobacco industry think they have found the salvation product – a Swedish moist snuff product called SNUS – it’s smokeless, spitless tobacco in portioned packets in tea-bag like pouches. Since SNUS is not smoked tobacco it’s assumed there will be less respiratory disease and NO second-hand smoke. Tobacco companies want to market the SNUS as a harm reduction product when compared to cigarette smoking. These companies lack creditability so not many people will believe them when they promote smokeless tobacco as a safer alternative than smoking. So these companies are prodding public health officials to come forward and support claims about how safe smokeless tobacco is when compared to tobacco smoking. Some tobacco control scientists are agreeing the alternative tobacco product may be less harmful but by doing this they are encouraging youngsters to give it a try. The product is being promoted to be used anywhere, anytime, anyplace at your convenience and no one will even know. With no federal regulations the tobacco companies are free to market their new smokeless tobacco products in ways that encourage kids to start using tobacco and discourage smokers from quitting tobacco use. Given the current political environment it doesn’t look like federal tobacco regulations will be enacted for at least the next two years. We must enlist the support of the National Association of Attorneys General which have been successful in dealing with tobacco companies in the past, to intervene to protect our children from the ravages of nicotine.
Information is provided to make people aware of what is happening so the appropriate action can be taken.
Major Effort Underway to Stop the Slide of Cigarette Sales
We must take action now to prevent many of our youth (our future) from becoming another generation of nicotine addicts. You probably have a family member or friends who were fooled by the glitz and glamour of cigarette advertising/promotions and became totally dependent on tobacco for survival. Possibly by now these people are suffering from the many chronic diseases caused by tobacco use or have already died a premature death leaving their families to fend on their own.
Now on the horizon is a tobacco product that will be more tempting to try – after all, it’s being marketed for use, “Anywhere, Anytime, No One Will Never Know.” Tobacco companies look upon this product as their savior - the one that will get them growing again in a declining cigarette market - so there will be no stopping them - any potential customer is fair game.
Cigarette consumption in the United States has been declining for decades and in 2005 sales hit a 55-year low. Cigarette makers are looking for alternative tobacco products to bolster their growth and halt the steady decline in sales. Of course, any substitute product has to deliver the addictive hit of nicotine and at the same time not be subject to the growing proliferation of smoking regulations that are spreading across the country making it tougher for smokers to light up and it must be usable without the same degree of harm generally inflicted by cigarette smoking.
The tobacco industry think that they found the salvation product – a Swedish moist snuff product called SNUS – it’s smokeless, spitless tobacco in portioned packets in tea-bag like pouches. The small pouch is placed between the upper lip and gums for five to 30 minutes (or longer) and then discarded. Moist snuff is the only sector of tobacco products that is growing--smokeless tobacco has grown in popularity as restrictions on public smoking have increased. In the past ten years, sales of smokeless tobacco have increased 30%, with moist snuff brands growing at rates of 4% to 5% for the past five years.
Programs to eliminate tobacco are working – tobacco use is becoming a socially unacceptable practice; aggressive anti-tobacco programs, comprehensive smoke-free laws, and increased cost of cigarettes have contributed to the decline in cigarette smoking. Forty-one states have passed cigarette-tax increases in the past five years. The former U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona’s comprehensive scientific report (June 2006) on the dangerous consequences of secondhand smoke (involuntary consumption of tobacco smoke or the effect of smoke on a non-smoker) will likely increase the enactment of more legislation in favor of smoke-free work places; seventeen states have implemented comprehensive smoke-free legislation so-far. Companies concerned about paying high health insurance premiums are hesitant to employ smokers. Belmont, California is set to make history by becoming the first U.S. city to ban smoking on its streets and almost everywhere else, according to a report by Dana Yates in the San Mateo, California Daily Journal. (Thursday, November 16, 2006 — Tobacco Reporter). Week of January 14, 2007, the City of Bangor, Maine a new ordinance went into effect that allows police to impose a $50 fine on anyone found smoking a cigar, cigarette or other material in a vehicle (on any public road within city limits) if anyone under 18 is in the vehicle (Meg Haskell, Bangor Daily News, January 16, 2007).
Worried about the health effects of secondhand smoke and sick of cleaning up discarded butts, jurisdictions are even banning smoking on beaches and in parks. You think cigarette butts are a real problem? —just wait until SNUS users start discarding their grimy, disease-carrying smokeless tobacco pouches wherever and whenever. In Stockholm, Sweden’s largest city, used packets litter the otherwise clean streets and subway stations.
Ask yourself - do we want the same to happen to the cities of the USA??? Our answer—“NO.”
The Smokeless, Spitless Tobacco Products
American style moist snuff has been around a long time. United States Tobacco Co. (UST) has 75-80% of the moist snuff market in the U.S. – its Copenhagen name brand introduced in 1822 and Skoal was introduced in 1934 – each account for more than one billion dollars in retail sales. (Originally produced with a wintergreen taste, Skoal is now available in a variety of additional flavors, including Straight, Mint, Cherry, Classic, Spearmint, Berry Blend, Vanilla Blend, Apple Blend and Peach Blend – a citrus blend will be added in early 2007.) Conwood, acquired by Reynolds American, Inc. in May 2006, is UST’s largest competitor with approximately 13% of the moist snuff market with products like Kodiak and Grizzly.
Swedes first started tucking SNUS under the lip at the end of the 1700s. The newer products are takeoffs on Swedish SNUS – a moist snuff made by grinding tobacco and mixing it with water, flavoring and salt that uses a steam-heat treatment sometimes called pasteurization of the tobacco instead of the U.S. methods of curing tobacco. This steam procedure results in lower levels of carcinogenic agents, particularly tobacco-specific nitrosamines.
All three major U.S. cigarette manufactures have now jumped into the moist snuff market. Philip Morris USA entered the smokeless tobacco market with the launch (July 2006) of a pasteurized, smoke-free and spit-free tobacco called Taboka (tuh'-BOH-kuh) Tobaccopaks now being test marketed in Indianapolis, Indiana. Reynolds American, as mentioned above acquired Conwood, and is test marketing (start Summer 2006)a similar product manufactured in Sweden in partnership with British American Tobacco (BAT) that is refrigerated prior to purchase called Camel Snus in two cities – Austin, TX and Portland, OR. (It is felt that it would be easier marketing the product if it was tied to popular cigarette that people would already recognize.)
It has been rumored there could be a Kool Snus some day. Now Lorillard Tobacco Company (10/25/2006), the third largest manufacturer of cigarettes in the United States and the maker of Newport, has announced an agreement with Swedish Match North America (NA) to jointly develop and market a select line of smokeless tobacco products in the United States. (Swedish Match is the leading producer of snuff products in Sweden and has a presence in the U.S.A.)
UST has been selling Revel since August 2001 – a small packet of moist ground tobacco with flavors like mint, wintergreen and cinnamon about the size of a piece of gum – “a chicklet”. In July 2006 UST came out with a similar product called Skoal Dry Tobacco Packs and will be test marketed in Louisville, KY and in Austin, TX going head-to-head with Camel Snus. Swedish Match NA offers two primary moist smokeless brands Timber Wolf and Longhorn.
Star Scientific Inc. introduced Stonewall Hard Snuff in 2001 and then Ariva in 2003; these are completely dissolvable smokeless tobacco products. Stonewall is a larger version of Ariva, so it may appeal to heavier smokers. Like Ariva it is flavored with wintergreen.
Tobacco Companies Claim Targeting only Current Smokers
Can we believe tobacco companies will limit distribution to existing smokers?? - based on previous history; definitely NOT.
Philip Morris in the Taboka Fact Sheet states at least three times that this product is for adult smokers interested in smokeless tobacco alternatives to smoking. But is this true?? – they provide information for parents to convince your child not to smoke tobacco but coupons are readily available for $1 off a pack of Marlboro or $4 off a carton making it easier for children to afford to buy cigarettes. We all know that Reynolds American doesn’t even care if they knowingly market indirectly to children. They have been masking the regular tobacco flavor and scent in favor of flavored cigarettes ranging from watermelon (“Beech Breezer”) to berry (“Bayou Blast”) to pineapple and coconut (“Kauai Kolada”) to make it even more appealing for youngsters to take the initial puff and keep smoking until he or she gets hooked.
Cigarette companies are trying everything in their power to keep their current smokers. For example: it looks like the tobacco industry has been increasing the levels of nicotine in their cigarettes over the last six years making it even more difficult for smokers to quit. According to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health the overall increase has been about 10% during 1998-2004.(Medical News Today, August 30, 2006)
You can expect more of the same with smokeless, spitless tobacco pouches. We know tobacco product advertising and promotion are important causes of tobacco use among children. It’s already starting to happen with SNUS. The direct mail campaign by Leo Burnett, part of the Publicis Groupe, features Taboka coupons offering a $2 discount. Revel, the UST product promotion, reads “Discreet Smoke-Free Tobacco Satisfaction” - reminding users you can enjoy Revel anywhere you go – to work, to a theatre, a restaurant, the airport or wherever and you can enjoy tobacco privately – in public. It comes in at least three refreshing flavors; mint, wintergreen and cinnamon. The Camel Snus pitch is - “Pleasure for Wherever Whenever.” Mitch Zeller, a health policy consultant who was director of the Office of Tobacco Programs at the FDA during the Clinton Administration, said the Camel Snus web site "seems aimed at young adult males to get them to start using products." The text indicates Reynolds found SNUS in Sweden, "home of the world's best meatballs, massage and blondes." Kylie Meiner, the tobacco prevention coordinator for Multnomah County where one of the two test sites for Camel Snus is located is convinced that the marketing is aimed at young people. One direct mail item she received read: “Camel Snus – be the 1st on your block to try it” (Portland Tribune, 11/20/2006).
Swedish Match has attractive young men and women offering customers in bars and smoke shops a free taste of tobacco. These promoters hope that smokers who don’t want to be forced outside to smoke, will try snuff (that comes in various flavors) instead. One person who was approached at a New York City bar was offered a free tin even after telling the model he had quit smoking weeks before (showing how much the tobacco industry honors personal preferences of non-smokers). Swedish Match and UST have Internet web sites where these products can be ordered and for a limited time shipping is free. UST’s has even had a “Free Gear for Lids” campaign in which tobacco tin lids were exchanged for free outdoor and recreational gear-a powerful incentive for youngsters to use tobacco. One SNUS user has commented that the packet placed in my mouth was so small as to be unnoticeable to the person sitting next to me in the lecture hall.
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention 44.5 million U.S. adults were current smokers in 2004. Of these about 70% (33.3 million) want to quit smoking and free themselves of all tobacco products. Most of remaining smokers are older hardline smokers and refuse to quit. Will this latter group of around 11 million smokers be the only target group that the tobacco companies try to convince to go smokeless??
Tobacco Companies Lack Creditability to Promote SNUS
Tobacco companies lack creditability so not many people will believe them when they promote smokeless tobacco as a safer alternative than smoking. So these companies are prodding public health officials to come forward and support claims about how safe smokeless tobacco is when compared to tobacco smoking.
Some tobacco control people have played right into their hands and have even been outspoken on how safe smokeless tobacco is compared to tobacco smoking. One fellow described as tobacco-policy expert David Sweanor, who teaches law and medicine at the University of Ottawa, puts it, "It's the smoke, stupid." But even Philip Morris’s (USA) Taboka Fact Sheet points out that smokeless tobacco products are addictive and cause serious disease. Public health researchers have come up with various percentages on just how safe going smokeless is compared to smoking. Some say 99% safer others claim there is at least 90% reduction in relative risk using low-nitrosamine tobacco.
A web site has even been created by a two public health professionals who receive funding from the smokeless tobacco industry called http://tobaccoharmreduction.org/index.htm that attempts to convince people that smokeless is the way to go using either moist snuff and even chewing tobacco. One heading reads; “Reduce the harm from Nicotine Use: Go Smokeless.” This is not true because the nicotine amounts obtained from smokeless tobacco may even be higher than those obtained from smoking a cigarette. Patricia Richter of the CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health has stated, ‘‘The amount of nicotine absorbed per dose from using smokeless tobacco is greater than the amount of nicotine absorbed from smoking one cigarette.’’ An average dose of nicotine for snuff is 3.6mg, for chewing tobacco 4.6mg and 1.8mg for cigarettes (American Cancer Society). Using moist snuff eight to ten times a day can bring as much nicotine into the body as smoking 30-40 cigarettes (Spit Tobacco: Does Smokeless Mean Harmless, 2001 Mayo Clinic report).
One of the co-authors of the website, Dr. Brad Rodu at the University of Louisville James Graham Brown Cancer Center, receives funding from United States Smokeless Tobacco (UST) and it seems their study results fit perfectly in line with the outcome UST wants to see. Dr. Rodu, a dentist with training in oral pathology, is a professor of medicine and the first holder of the endowed chair in Tobacco Harm Reduction Research. The endowed chair and accompanying research funds were created by U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Co. and Swedish Match AB, who committed nearly $3.4 million.
It has been pointed out that much of the research on the relative health impact of smokeless tobacco has been funded by the tobacco industry (Smokeless Tobacco Poses Challenge for Stop-Smoking Advocates, Join Together, 9/20/2006).
Tobacco companies have warned public health professionals if they don’t support the smokeless tobacco alternative they’ll be at fault (held responsible) for the suffering from chronic sickness and death of tobacco smokers. Even the Mayo Clinic, one of the most prestigious and affluent medical charitable organizations in the US has been accused of misinformation about smokeless tobacco. (“The Mayo Clinic Spreads Misinformation About Smokeless Tobacco by John K. Carlisle, CRC Highlight from Capital Research Center.)
Chris Proctor, Head of Science and Regulation for BAT has stated that SNUS is less harmful but not harmless. “Smokers who switch should reduce their health risk, although the best way to avoid the risks is still not to consume tobacco at all.”
We were shocked to learn that Dr. Neal Benowitz, clinical pharmacologist (Professor of Medicine at UCSF and director of its cancer center’s Tobacco Control Program) who is considered an expert in tobacco control told a Los Angeles Times reporter Valerie Reitman for a 2004 article, “If someone can’t quit smoking, there is no question that smokeless is much safer. It doesn’t cause heart or lung disease, and if it does cause cancer, it does slowly at a much lower rate.” Dr. Gary Giovino, Director of the Tobacco Control Program at Roswell Park happened to be at the same interview and chimed in by saying that he totally agrees with what Dr. Benowitz has stated. Granted smokeless tobacco will reduce the incidence of respiratory disease including lung cancer and the effects of secondhand smoke. But regarding heart disease the use of smokeless tobacco is definitely a major contributing factor.
Just consider the acute effects of nicotine – increased heart rate, blood vessel constriction, reduced circulation. Immediately after exposure to nicotine, there is a “rush” caused in part by the drug’s stimulation of the adrenal glands and resulting in a discharge of epinephrine (adrenaline). The result of epinephrine release causes a sudden release of glucose, as well as an increase in blood pressure, respiration and heart rate. Nicotine also suppresses insulin output from the pancreas. (In fact, side effects, such as nausea and blood vessel constriction, have plagued attempts to test nicotine use in patients with Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and other maladies in which, studies indicate, nicotine could alleviate some symptoms.) These responses to nicotine uptake occurring most likely several times a day will have an overall negative effect on a smokeless tobacco users cardiovascular system. (For more information of the adverse effects of nicotine see Section on Other Adverse Consequences Resulting From Use of Smokeless Tobacco.)
In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover designed study was carried out with healthy volunteers to find the hemodynamic and autonomic effects of smokeless tobacco. It was found that smokeless tobacco is a powerful autonomic and hemodynamic stimulus increasing blood pressure on average by 10mmHg, heart rate 16 beats/minute and adrenaline blood level by 50%. It was concluded that snuff tobacco has a powerful stimulant effect but that it also dampens the body's normal protective responses to blood pressure elevation. (Wolk, R et al. , J Am Coll Cardiol 45(6 – March 15) : 910-4, 2005). Also, nicotine is believed to be the primary constituent of cigarette smoke responsible for its acute adverse effects on myocardial oxygen supply and demand (FC Keeley et al., Am J Med 101(4): 357-363, 1996).
In a recent editorial Dr. Meir J. Stampfer (Chair, Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health) wrote, “The overwhelming conclusion from these mass of data is that tobacco exposure causes a large proportion of myocardial infarcts in men and women around the world.” When we asked if the use of moist snuff (SNUS) should be included in these tobacco exposures he wrote: “Yes, strong evidence shows that smokeless tobacco including snuff and chewing tobacco causes cancer and heart disease” (M J Stampfer, M.D., Dr.PH).
Many more studies are summarized on our web site: http://snus.biz all providing further evidence that smokeless tobacco use increases the risk of cardiovascular disease. According to a recent study in Lancet 2006 Aug 19; 368(9536):621-2 of 27,000 people in 52 countries it was found that all forms of tobacco use and consumption heightened the risk of heart attack by up to 3 times (KK Teo et al. An Interheart Study).
Other Adverse Consequences Resulting From Use of Smokeless Tobacco
We are just learning more and more about the negative effects of smokeless tobacco use – the main focus for years has been on tobacco smoke. Researchers at IARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer) say that they now know that snuff has a stronger cancer effect than was known before.
Use of smokeless tobacco may result in more tobacco smokers. Many people have turned to Swedish moist snuff or snus as a substitute for cigarettes. Studies contacted by Dr. Scott Tomar (DMD, MPH, Dr.PH, University of Florida, College of Dentistry) have found that many smokers who take up the use of snuff in an effort to quit instead end up asking for both products. In addition, he found that nonsmokers who use snuff are more likely than those who don’t to eventually begin smoking. “Men were more than two-and-a-half times as likely to have switched from snuff to cigarettes than to have switched from cigarettes to snuff,” said Dr. Tomar.
Smokeless tobacco once absorbed from the oral mucosa takes around a minute for nicotine to reach active sites in the brain where with inhaled smoke it only takes 10 seconds. This difference may be important to the addict looking for a quick “fix.” For that person, he/she would almost always grab a cigarette in preference to a smokeless packet regardless of the original intent-even if using smokeless tobacco were part of an effort to quit smoking.
Oral lesions: First, just using common sense if you place moist snuff packet in your mouth in just about the same location several times a day for a periods of 30 minutes or more the mucosal surface in the mouth will become irritated and eventually inflamed. If the user would move the packet around in other parts of their mouth – even with less salt and moisture compared to chewing tobacco, more saliva would be released which would lead to swallowing the poisonous mix that could lead to an increased chance of disease, e.g., increased risk of pancreatic cancer. Of course the user could spit it out, in which case the tobacco would no longer be spitless.
Cases of gum recession, bone loss around the teeth, stained or teeth abrasions, bad breath and cancer of the mouth and pharynx has been reported in users of smokeless tobacco.
Pancreatic cancer: Use of smokeless tobacco (snus and chewing tobacco) may be a risk factor for pancreatic cancer. In a recently published prospective cohort study, comprising more than 10,000 Norwegian men, the relationship between the use of smokeless tobacco (snus and chewing tobacco) and the risk of cancer of pancreas and other organs, such as oral cavity/pharynx, esophagus, stomach, lung, kidney or bladder was studied. The authors found that snus use was associated with significant increase in the risk of pancreatic cancer. The increase in risk was only seen among ever-users of SNUS who were smokers at the start of the study, 40 years earlier. SNUS use was, however, not associated with increases in risk of cancer of the oral cavity/pharynx, esophagus, stomach, lung, kidney or bladder (Boffetta et al., 2005).
Metabolic Syndrome: Researchers from Umeå University in Sweden have discovered that consuming more than four cans of oral smokeless tobacco (SNUS) per week increases the risk of developing metabolic syndrome, which in turn can increase the risk of heart and circulatory disease and diabetes. This fact is demonstrated by the world’s most extensive long-term study on oral smokeless tobacco (SNUS)use. Swedish study finds that people who use snuff are more likely to be overweight and to have high blood pressure and high cholesterol. It is interesting to note that obese individuals have an increased risk of pancreatic cancer compared with individuals with a healthy body mass index.
Cataract Risk: Using snuff or chewing tobacco is associated with an increased likelihood of developing cataracts according to an Indian researchers report; Dr. Prema Raju of the Vision Research Foundation, Sankar Netralaya, Chennai and colleagues evaluated tobacco use among 3924 adults from rural areas. In all, 1705 used tobacco in various forms. Nine hundred subjects, mainly women, used smokeless tobacco -- either as snuff or for chewing -- while 731 smoked tobacco predominantly in rolled cigarette-style bidis. The remainder used both forms.
Pregnancy: The results of a Swedish study showed an increased risk of preterm delivery and preeclampsia and probably also reduced fetal growth, in the offspring of mothers who used snuff during pregnancy . (2006 Tobaksfakta)
More on the Adverese Effects of Nicotine: Nicotine is an organic nerve drug so powerful that a one-drop injection would cause immediate death. Eating just three cigarettes would kill a person within 30 minutes. Nicotine by itself is not carcinogenic, however, researchers have shown that nicotine promotes cell proliferation and the progression of tumors already initiated by tobacco carcinogens. Nicotine can cause a delay in wound healing most likely by its vasoconstrictor component that reduces blood flow to the skin (P Silverstein, Ann J Med 93(1A):225-245, 1992). In addition, nicotine interferes with the healing of bone fractures and also inhibits bone fusion processes. Also, nicotine has been found to delay tendon and ligament healing. Hastening the aging process(lots of wrinkles) – nicotine constricts blood vessels and decreases the flow of oxygen to the skin. Tobacco use is the second biggest cause of skin damage after sun exposure.
The Highest Priority has to be Keeping Kids from Using Tobacco Products
Our main concern and highest priority has to be keeping children from using tobacco products. Kids are well aware of what is happening. They’ve been told over and over again how bad tobacco smoking can be - it kills. Now – you have public health officials telling people how safe this alternative tobacco product is and you can still get the same amounts of nicotine (perhaps even more) and much lesser chance of developing a disease.
Tobacco control scientists who are involved with reducing the death and disease caused by tobacco use are caught in a no win situation. There’s another component involved in tobacco control and that is PREVENTION – in this case do everything in their power to prevent the youth of America from even trying tobacco products. We now know that it does not take much indulgence to become addicted to nicotine. By telling hardline smokers that SNUS is not as harmful as tobacco smoke, we are encouraging them to switch but also enticing youngsters to give it a try. By doing this they are encouraging the youth of America to go ahead and try smokeless tobacco that it's safer than smoking cigarettes. Already the use of smokeless is higher in young people than in adults.
One main reason SNUS is outlawed by all European Union countries except Sweden (Norway is not in the EU) is because it was deemed an attraction to children, who would become easily hooked and move on to cigarettes. As the Dr. Richard Carmona, 17th Surgeon General of the United States has stated, "Young people may be especially attracted to smokeless tobacco if they perceive it to be safer than cigarettes. The evidence is clear that the use of smokeless tobacco is a gateway to cigarettes." U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky, June 3, 2003 has pointed out that "Smokeless tobacco is a threat to our nation's public health, especially to the health of our children.”
Many fear that endorsing smokeless tobacco as an alterative to tobacco smoking will draw in lots of new customers – the youth of America. We’re afraid this generation of youngsters will not be able to reach their full potential – their crutch will always be nicotine addiction. In addition, tobacco is considered to be a gateway drug which may lead to alcohol, marijuana and illegal drug use. One study found that snuff consumers consume more alcohol that those who smoke cigarettes. Another study found that the nicotine in smokeless tobacco reduces an individual's ability to perform complex tasks that require hand and body movements to adjust to new visual feedback. We want our children to reach their full potential instead of relying on abused drugs to satisfy their addiction the rest of their lives??
A lethal dose of nicotine, a neurotoxin used as an insecticide, is contained in as few as three cigarettes; only a fraction of the nicotine contained in a cigarette is actually released into the smoke. There are stories about how people have fallen asleep with the SNUS pouch left inside their mouth slowing releasing more and more nicotine.
NO Federal Tobacco Regulations
The use of tobacco products is unregulated in the United States. Without federal tobacco regulations for our kids sake – we must say no to SNUS. A bill giving the FDA the authority to regulate tobacco products failed to pass congress in 2004. An identical FDA legislation was reintroduced in March 2005 and is still pending. The proposed FDA legislation would regulate the sale, marketing and manufacture of all tobacco products. It would also prohibit all flavorings in cigarettes except menthol. As Matthew Myers, Director of the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, points out – “With the absence of FDA authority over tobacco products – the tobacco companies are free to market their new smokeless tobacco products in ways to encourage kids to start using tobacco and discourage smokers from quitting tobacco entirely. If Senate Bill 666 (DeWine-Kennedy Bill) had already been enacted to regulate tobacco products it would ensure that the marketing of each smokeless product did not discourage current tobacco users from quitting or encourage new users to start.”
In Sweden SNUS is regulated as a food product. Sanitation requirements in Swedish SNUS factories are the same as those used in food preparation. All additives are approved as food additives. (Although SNUS is not a food, in Sweden it is currently governed by the food legislation. This means that the ingredients used in SNUS must be approved according to the food legislation and the same stringent hygiene demands as for the manufacture of foodstuffs is imposed, and adhered to.) Swedish SNUS is manufactured through a heat-treated process – similar to pasteurization that ensures that micro-organisms are neutralized, and that the SNUS stays fresh longer.
Even Chris Proctor, Head of Science and Regulation for British American Tobacco has stated, “We’re also responding to public health stakeholders who told us they believe SNUS, Properly Regulated, can contribute to reducing the impact of tobacco on public health.” Well – the U.S.A has NO federal tobacco regulations in place. Hyland et al. (Addictive Behaviors 31:1190-1200, 2006) have concluded that only under strict regulations could the increase in low-nitrosamine smokeless tobacco use reduce overall smoking prevalence yielding potentially substantial health benefits.
Most likely with the pro-business current administration in office the federal government will not be able to pass federal tobacco regulations at least in the next 2-years. The U.S. has not been able to ratify the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control – the first ever global public health treaty. (As of July 2006, 133 countries have ratified this treaty protecting more than 75% of the world's population but not the United States or Russia.) In fact, the federal government is still getting involved in trying to convince other countries to buy American products including tobacco products. It’s interesting to note that the U.S. led the global health community toward smokefree indoor environments with the passage of the first 100% smokefree law in San Luis Obispo, California, in 1985.
What can be done?? – SNUS is coming, tobacco companies look upon the smokeless tobacco as their salvation and smokeless tobacco products will soon be more available throughout the U.S.A – tied to various marketing campaigns that indirectly market to the youth of America.
We must turn to the National Association of Attorneys General that have proved effective body in getting the job done when it means the health and safety of their constituents. Under the November 1998 Master Settlement Agreement (MSA), seven tobacco companies agreed to change the way tobacco products are marketed and pay the states an estimated $206 billion. The tobacco companies also agreed to finance a $1.5 billion anti-smoking campaign, open previously secret industry documents, and disband industry trade groups which Attorneys General maintain conspired to conceal damaging research from the public.
The MSA agreement prohibits targeting youth in advertising, promotions, or marketing and bans industry actions aimed at initiating, maintaining or increasing youth smoking. In addition banned the use of cartoons in the advertising, promotion, packaging or labeling of tobacco products.
More recently (October 2006), the Attorneys General of 38 states have entered into a settlement that ends the sale of candy, fruit and alcohol flavored cigarettes manufactured and sold by the company. Under the settlement, Reynolds agreed to a ban in the United States of its Camel, Kool and Salem flavored cigarettes. The agreement also imposes significant marketing restrictions to prevent Reynolds from marketing a flavored cigarette to youth in the future. The following restrictions apply to any cigarettes manufactured by Reynolds in the future that have a characterizing flavor other than tobacco or menthol.
We will be contacting the Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and ask for her support. Attorney General Madigan has commented, “Eliminating tobacco use by children is one of our greatest public health challenges and one of my highest priorities. I will continue to vigorously respond to any effort by the tobacco industry to target children as a way to ‘grow’ new smokers (tobacco users).”
We think that people in influential positions, especially those able to influence youth, should get involved in tobacco-free children’s programs before inroads of tobacco based nicotine-containing products are able to influence youth toward various addictions-extending into adult years.
Conclusion
We must protect our next generation – our future – the youth of America.
Drs. Dorothy Hatsukami, Charlotte Lemmonds and Scott Tomar are RIGHT in that, considerable more quality research and product regulation is necessary prior to considering smokeless tobacco as a harm reduction method (Prev Med 38(3):309-317, 2004).
Former Surgeon General Carmona has stated that, “We simply do not have enough quality scientific evidence to conclude that any tobacco product, including smokeless tobacco, is a means of reducing the risks of cigarette smoking. At this time, any public health recommendation that positions smokeless tobacco as a safer substitute for cigarettes or as a quitting aid would be premature and dangerous. With the memory of our experience with low-tar cigarettes in our minds, we must move extremely cautiously before making any statement or endorsement about the potential reduced risk of any tobacco product."
Remember the rule of thumb that seems to always hang-true: that if a tobacco company comes out in favor of something – this signals that there must be something wrong. The only safe way to break the nicotine dependency is to quit using any form of tobacco.
As Dr. Stephen Hecht, one of the most respected analytical tobacco control scientists in the world and the 2001 recipient of the prestigious Alton Ochsner Award relating smoking and health, has stated: “Smokeless tobacco products should not be considered an acceptable substitute for cigarette smoking, especially when relatively harmless medicinal nicotine products are available.”
Tobacco, Deadly in Any Form or Disguise.
For Further Information Consult Our Web Site: http://snus.biz.
